Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1887-06-01

over to consult the type upon which tn
"ticker" behind him was printing the marke
quotations. Suddenly his face frightened
"By jingor he exclaimed; "Union Pacih
at SO. That's two hundred thousand In m,
pocketw
His humor was much improved by thi
piece OF good luck, and as he strobe through
the outer Offices he felt the agreeable ex
hilaration OF n man at peace with the world
When he was accosted ut the door by
round shouldered, youngsh-looking man
with blonde beard and spectacles, he did
not repeat his invitation TO "get out"
"Are you the fellow that wrote The
letterm he asked.
with your permission, am" the young
man replied, with marked German accent
81 think you would find II TO your own adj
vahtage not TO refuse me the interview"
"All right; come in"
He turned around briskly and passed
through the ground-giass door TO. the inner
office, leaving the German TO follow. Mr.
Hardness was, like most OF the bonanzs
men OF tho Pacific coast, OF sanguine and
adventurous temper, and but scantily
equipped with education. He was ready
for any thing in which there was money
and no proposition in which money was in
volved was too daring for his consideration
He was young and already twenty times
millionaire. To his visitor he seemed the
very incarnation OF the hearty, generous
slam bang recklessness OF the Pacific coast
IL would have surprised him, no doubt, II
he had suspected that this specialized, un
pretentious- looking foreigner had made Q
complete inventory of his characteristics
from merely seeing him in the street and
from hearing the rumor Of his daring
maneuvers on the stock exchange.
"Well," Hardness remarked, Sire away
I've got just fifteen minutes"
''Half an hour" said the German, firmly
"Well, fire away, man. Time at this hour
OF the day is worth thousand dollars a
minute"
"All right. Then / will be brief. My
name Is Heinrich Wachtmeister. l was
two years ago tutor in chemistry at the uni
versity Of Utrecht. In that capacity was
led to make certain experiments which re-
suited in my discovering what thousands
nave sought for in vain-the secret OF
making gold. You open your eyes, no
doubt, In wonder. So did l. The gold was
found in my possession, together with a
number OF metallic plates and instruments,
which the stupid officials concluded were
intended for counterfeiting. They would
not believe my story,lof course, that l
made the gold. For counterfeiting was
accordingly tried and sentenced TO two
years Imprisonment. / have just now
served out my sentence"
"You are a jail-bird, then. It's pity
you didn't stay longer"
"Wait moment and you will see."
DIR. Wachtmeister here entered upon n
detailed explanation Of his chemical expert
ments, declaring that gold had never been
proved to be an element, and that, IL it was
a compound, there was no reason why it
should not be made. Science had solved
many riddles in modern times which TO the
past were insoluble. He begged Mr. Hank
ness to grant him the privilege of proving
to him and five of his friends, whom Mr..
Hardness should himself appoint, that his
statements were true. He asked for no
salary or emoluments, but only desired to
associate Mr.. Hardness renowned name
with his own in an enterprise which,
il he carried it on alone, would ex-
pose him to fresh difficulties with the
law. There was such ring of sincerity
and earnestness in his speech that the mill
ionaire was more than half persuaded. He
declared that he would let him know in a
week whether he could grant his request
and instantly cabled to Utrecht to ascertain
whether the story relating to the imprison-
ment and trial for counterfeiting were true.
He received the next day "a cablegram cor
roborating the story in all particulars. A
second appointment was accordingly made,
and the test, in the presence of witnesses,
agreed upon. Wachtmeister begged as a
favor that some Of these might be scientific
experts, whose judgment had weight. This,
too, was readily conceded.
The momentous day at last arrived. In
Hardness Office half a dozen~of the million
ares dependents were gathered, all pledged
to absolute secrecy, on the penalty of losing
their patrons favor. Wachtmeister ar
rived at the appointed hour, carrying a
starch-box under his arm and followed by a
boy who carried a small blast furnace,
about the size of plumbers melting pot.
He was introduced to each member of the
company, among whom there was one who
had been induced TO personatc the scientific
expert. For Hardness, who, like most men
of his stamp, had small faith in scientists,
had concluded that such one might
readily steal the secret (Which he was now
convinced was well worth stealing,) and
he had, for this reason made, for the nonce,
a professor OF chemistry out OF one of his
clerks named Sawyer. Wachtmeister inn
mcdiatcly engaged this gentleman in CON
vcrsation, and measured, in an instant, the
extent of his scientific requirements.
The little Introductory speech which he
made have not the space to repeat; but il
was very clever.
snow, gentlemen he said in conclusion,
II must commit myself TO your honor
beg of you to examine carefully the con-
tents of this box. You see that IL contains
some black sand-a very common article,
which is found in abundance round about
in the State. Here | hold in my hand u
small bottle of sulphate of iron. y
But, pardon me! | came near forgetting
merely wish TO convince you that my pro-
cess is above board-without suspicion OF
fraud. You will not require of me that l
shall explain it to you"
He thereupon stepped behind screen
and Invested himself OF all his clothes,
which he handed out TO the company beg
ging them to make sure that they contained
no particle of the noble metal. One by one
his garments were returned to him; then
the furnace, the box and the bottles, each
after having been subjected to rigid ex-
animation. 1t was obvious that every
thihS Noo ioii ohu oiuaiO' ihtip woo
almost solemn silence in the room while the
alchemist labored behind the screen
Every insignificant little sound was lis
tened to with excited interest. The crack
ling of flames were heard, and the steady
blowing OF the little bellows; then at last
little cautious hammer blows. and before
thirty minutes had elapsed Wachtmester
stepped forward, holding large bar of yell
low gold in his hand. A chorus of excited
oaths and EXPLANATIONS greeted the CLEAN
of the precious metal. Hardness seized it
eagerly, scratched IL with his nail,
cut IL with his knife, and, having
satisfied himself that it was genuine, passed
IL around until all had had chance to OK
anime it. The bar was then sent to an
assayer, with the request that he return his
analysis at the earliest possible moment
A banquet had been conditionally arranged
for the party in the evening, and as soon as
the assay was found to be satisfactory (the
bar being valued at 81, LOO, Mr.. Hardness
and his guests repaired to a fashionable
hotel, where the great event was appropri-
N civ palahrataA ho f,,t, Of h,,-